“THIRTY DOLLARS REWARD.”, printed broadside for return of Arch, enslaved. John Winter, Frederick-town [Maryland] 1791.

I’m thankful for a career that brings me into visceral contact with our past - the good, the bad, and the ugly of it.

It doesn’t take much looking at all to figure out that Arch had a lot of good reasons to run away. Being enslaved by Ignatious Davis was nothing like the relatively flowery portrayal of Mid-Atlantic slavery commonly peddled. Sadly, his escape attempt of August 22nd, 1791 was not successful. On June 24, 1793, Davis again advertised a reward for his return. This time the price was reduced - he was willing to pay ten dollars. Even in his cruelty, Davis may have realized that Arch was going to win someday…we don’t know, we may never know, but we can hope that he did.

To the credit of History, Davis would probably be just another name in the census if it weren’t for the remarkable story of Lewis Charlton who was born on his farm in 1814. Lewis’s mother worked for Davis’s wife and was forced to leave him alone in the slave quarters from the time he was two weeks old. At fourteen months, on a bitterly cold day, Lewis’s mother returned at night to find that her son had kicked away the blanket protecting him from the cold and he subsequently lost his toes. When Lewis was seven, Davis died and he was sent to auction, where his mother wept and removed his socks to reveal that he was crippled, hoping no one would bid. At twenty-eight, despite an extremely challenging life, Lewis obtained his manumission. Lewis was a brilliant man. He recognized the value of education, even if he had never had the opportunity to have any himself. In 1866 he traveled as far as Boston to raise funds and successfully established a school for black children in Westminster, Maryland that ran for four years, a stunning accomplishment. He would go on to be a speaker and author of the temperance movement in England, dying in Sheffield in 1888.

Leaving the world of museum-labeling and History behind, I like to think that despite all that had been taken from him - his labor, his freedom, his family - Lewis Charlton felt lucky, grateful even. What Lewis Charlton did is the thing etched in my consciousness by Saving Private Ryan as “Earn[ing] it”. He had been through hell, his family had been through hell, his country had been through hell, yet he was. He survived, he existed, and he chose to earn it rather than simply have it.

The past being, well, the past, there’s nothing we can do to repay Arch for his inspirational courage or Lewis Charlton for his determination and philanthropy, but we can choose to earn it in ways big and small. At the least we can honor them by sharing stories of the past and using their lessons to shape a brighter today and tomorrow. Today I’m grateful for these men, their stories, and a job that allows me to learn them and send them onward.

Book Review: Come Collect with Me

April 4, 2019John Chaski

Get a load of this, me…writing a book review. Crazy times. Let’s dive right in.

This is a picture of the book I’m reviewing to make the book review more visually dynamic.

Barry Perlman is a very nice guy and I’m no book critic, so it’s only natural that I’m inclined towards writing only pretty things about his book. The author’s personality and my inexperience both prove irrelevant. Come Collect with Me deserves to become a staple for collectors and dealers. Like most book reviews written by amateur pseudo-critic bloggers, this one will be mostly all about me, so if you can’t handle it just go buy the book now and stop reading here.

During my professional career as a dealer, doubts have crossed my mind. Not about making a living so much as whether I ought to be doing something that makes the world a better place…something that makes a difference to people. In those moments, I remind myself how great it felt when a grandmother who was downsizing hauled her jewelry box into my shop, costume tangled with gold, and I sorted it out and gave her around three thousand dollars for it, leaving myself ten percent. The look of astonishment on her face sticks with me years (a decade?) later. What if she had taken it to a less ethical proprietor? See, I do matter. Well, once. Is that really all that common, or is it just a rationalization?

I probably should have scheduled a session with someone like our author, a psychologist, years ago to hash this out. But eureka! Barry has written this book instead. Casting into the abyss his alternate future as a psychologist specializing in antiques dealers, he forgives our sins and affirms us thus: “Without other collectors and dealers in our lives, what would we do and who would we be? They provide us with a society in which we can share our passion, energy, laughter, knowledge, and appreciation.” My God, I matter? I matter!

But seriously, this book was a major epiphany for me as a dealer (and collector). It really did reveal to me a side of collectors I had forgotten existed, or perhaps never truly appreciated. When I sell someone a chair, they’re not simply buying a pretty thing to sit in or look at. There’s a lot more to it than that. The psychological insights are extremely helpful to the dealer side of me. One chapter is devoted to the reasons why collectors choose not to make a purchase. If that isn’t required reading for every dealer, I don’t know what is. I’m not going to spoil it, BUY THE BOOK.

Personally, I am a physical book person. I have the paperback and I like the fact that I’ll be able to go to the bookshelf and pick it up when I want to refer to it in the future. It’s that kind of book for me. I had fun reading it; it’s extremely relatable. But it will also be a reference volume. All that being said, I acknowledge that this is not a cheap book. Is it worth it? I promise you it is. However, it is also available very inexpensively as an e-book, some sort of thing I don’t understand, have never owned, and makes me feel anxious.

From the Farmhouse!

March 5, 2019John Chaski

I’m thrilled to announce the next show on our schedule…From the Farmhouse right up the road in Elkton, MD on Saturday March 16th. I’ve saved up lots of neat country smalls that I’ll be offering at bargain prices. For more details head over to the Events tab and click the link to head over to the show’s Facebook page.

The Loockerman Experience

April 5, 2018John Chaski

Did you ever go down the research wormhole of some 18th Century figure and feel like your life was somehow intertwined with theirs? That's how I've felt about Vincent Loockerman for the last couple months while I've been working on an appraisal. Learning about his life and legacy has given me a much greater appreciation for the early history of Dover, Delaware. Loockerman made it his headquarters for trade that would enable him to acquire some of the greatest pieces of Philadelphia Rococo furniture ever made, many of which remained in his home until the 20th century.

The Loockerman House, 419 South State Street, Dover, Delaware

That's all well and good but he patronized local craftsmen too, and that's what interests me most of all. You can see a lot of the extant Loockerman furniture at the Biggs Museum in Dover. The Loockerman Gallery just off the elevator and stairwell on the second floor does a great job of putting the man and his objects in context.

After that you can walk a couple blocks down State Street and visit the house it was all made for at 419 South, and finally cross Water Street to Christ Church where Vincent and many other significant Delawareans are buried. It's a pretty unique and immersive experience in the world of decorative arts. Oh, and have lunch at 33 West Ale House on Loockerman Street. Feel free to get in touch with me for further reading on the Loockerman family, I would particularly recommend Kate LaPrad's fabulous 2010 thesis on the subject.

So-called "Mochaware"

November 5, 2017John Chaski

One of my favorite things to buy and sell is a type of British ceramics referred to by many collectors and dealers as "mochaware". It's hard to believe I've never written a blog about it. The term itself is a real one but it is typically used to describe a large group of wares, of which mocha is a small subset.

The decoration referred to as "dendritic", "seaweed", "tree", or "tasty part of the broccoli" is what sets mochaware apart. More accurate terms for examples within the larger category but outside of mocha might include adjectives like slip-decorated, slip-banded and dipped. The bodies are creamware or pearlware. Do I include "mocha" as a search term when I'm trying to sell a slip-decorated pot online? Yes. But I usually qualify it with "so-called". That's right - I'm outing myself as the "So-called mochaware" guy.

All the photos above and below show pieces I've owned or still own. Enjoy!

Delaware Antiques Show Preview

November 5, 2017John Chaski

Coming with us to the Delaware Antiques Show, a Massachusetts mahogany easy chair in pretty green fabric. Extremely naughty, but also extremely crafty, cat not included.

Bargain Book: M.A.D. The Americana Chronicles

March 5, 2017John Chaski

"30 Years of Stories, Sales, Personalities, and Scandals". Since you can buy it on Amazon for like $8, I'm not going to make an extensive case for the book or spoil any of it.

That being said, I highly recommend it. Like as highly as I would recommend any book that's not Harry Potter or Peppa Pig. I've owned it for a very long time and still pull it down off the shelf on a regular basis. It was edited by Lita Solis-Cohen. She deserves a Nobel prize for putting up with as many antiques dealers as she has. That should be a new one, really. The Nobel Prize for putting up with a bunch of antiques dealers all the time.

The scandals and sales are great, but the personalities are the best. Chris Huntington, Roger Bacon, some psychopath who made fake Mormon documents, Eddy Nicholson. If you're weird like me you'll laugh, maybe cry, and read it all in one sitting. Just buy the book already!

Welcome!

November 13, 2016John Chaski

Welcome to our new website. Thanks to all who visited us at the Delaware Antiques Show this past weekend. With our last show of the year behind us we will focus on uploading current inventory, so please check back soon!